If you’re not familiar with the raucous rockers in Lucero, we recommend you get acquainted pretty quickly because you’ve already got a lot of catching up to do. For over a decade the Memphis-based act have been combining elements of country and punk rock to come up with a unique sound that’s reminiscent of alt-country pioneers like Uncle Tupelo. We caught up with the band’s frontman Ben Nichols hot on the release of the group’s major-label debut 1372 Overton Park to talk about guitars, gigs and why the band could care less about what cynics have to say about their new musical direction.
Stream their track "The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo" here.
You guys are about to hit the road. Have you been rehearsing a lot to get the new songs into shape?
Yeah, we’ve added a three-piece horn section to the touring band and I’ve got to say I was really nervous about it at first, but as soon as we started playing together it was perfect. Basically right now we’re getting everything squared away to leave town for six or seven weeks. We’ll probably play most of the new record if not all of it but we’ll still play the old stuff, so we’ll probably be playing 25 or more songs a night. The last couple of days we’ve actually written horn parts for some old songs and it’s made those tracks really fun to play again.
What kind of guitars did you use on the record?
I’ve got a Gibson ES-335 that I don’t take on the road because it’s too nice of a guitar and I don’t want anything to happen to it. When we’re on tour I take an Epiphone Sheraton, that’s the workhouse that I’ve played for most of the existence of the band. On this record I’m playing the ES-335 and [guitarist] Brian [Venable] has a Les Paul that he uses fairly regularly, too. Ted Hutt was the producer on the record and him and Brian went through a whole lot of different sounds, but Ted had a certain sound in mind that would fit with this Memphis Soul kind of sound that we were trying to bring in. I think we accomplished that but still made sure it sounded like Lucero.
How did the Memphis Soul direction occur and was it difficult to work those elements into your sound?
It all fell together really easily which I think speaks to the expertise of Jim Spake: He’s a Memphis horn player who’s been around for a long time and played with everyone from Al Green to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and was just really good at writing these arrangements. Once we decided on the direction the record was going in everything just fell into place, even with these old songs that we’re coming up with horn parts for. In some cases these songs might be six years old but they sound like they could be on the new record with the horn parts added in.
When were most of the songs for 1372 Overton Park written?
They were all written within the last year because we’re so busy. We put out our last album Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers about three years ago and we’ve been on the road so much that I hadn’t been writing as much as I had in the past. So when it came time to make this record I really had to force myself to sit down and write, which was something I hadn’t done in the past. This was also our first record for Universal and they wanted demos, which was another thing we hadn’t ever really done before. We went through a more lengthy editing process where we analyzed these arrangements note by note, so the songs were all fairly new but they were worked over extensively. I think it ended up being a really consistent-sounding record because of that.
Are there any new songs that you’re particularly proud of?
Yeah, there are a number of them. The one that’s the biggest stretch for Lucero is called “Sixes And Sevens.” The main guitar riff is kind of this blues-rock thing; we’re jamming out more than we ever have before. I hate to use that word, but it actually has a groove to it that makes you want to dance which isn’t something Lucero is known for. We’re not a funky type band but that song has a new type of sound for us. Some people are going to hear it and they’re going to think it sounds like a jam band, but I’m thinking of it more like the Band with Levon Helms singing “Ophelia.”
As you said earlier, this is your major label debut. Do you have a different set of expectations going into this album?
It’s been a slow but steady growth for our band over the last eight years and we’re excited that people are still coming out to see us, but hopefully with this Universal Record we’ll be able to get some people’s attention that we couldn’t get on our own. Basically the plan is to keep growing; I don’t think we’re going to be any big splash type of band, we’ve been around too long and we’re too old to be the band of the moment but I do think we’ve got plenty of room to grow.
What’s the reaction been like to the new material so far?
Luckily most folks have been really supportive of it and there’s been a lot of positive feedback. The folks that are the most freaked out by it are the listeners that don’t really know us that well. I’ve heard some people go “Oh, what’s this horn stuff? They sound like ska.” What planet are you living on? That doesn’t sound anything like ska. I don’t really worry about the folks who don’t get it. I think the folks who matter will really enjoy it and that’s all we care about.
Lucero are currently out on the road supporting 1372 Overton Park. You can check out their tour dates and more information about the band at www.luceromusic.com.
Photo Credit: Alan Spearman